Shout-out: Jonathan Baylis

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

JONATHAN BAYLIS!

Portrait by Paul Westover

Before Jonathan Baylis wrote auto-bio comics, he interned at Marvel Comics, Valiant/Acclaim Comics, and was an Associate Editor at Topps Comics.  His comics have been published locally in New York City and in literary anthologies like The Florida Review, Backwards City Review, and Wild River Review.  His first fiction story was published by Arcana Press in Dark Horrors 2.  Jonathan had a couple of two-pagers published in “I Saw You… Missed Connections” and “Side B: The Music Lovers Anthology”.  He has since collected most of his stories into the self-published, “So Buttons” series, of which there are four issues and a holiday special in print.  More stories can be found at www.sobuttons.com and sobuttons.tumblr.com

Portrait by Noah Van Sciver

Editor's note: I used to live in the same neighborhood as Jonathan (or "J. Bay", as I call him), and his street features prominently in Jonathan Lethem's "The Fortress of Solitude". My given name is also Jonathan. I'm not sure what this all adds up to, but I can tell you that he has one of the cutest bug-eyed Boston Terriers I have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes/hands on. If you meet up with him for a beer, Mocha: The International Delight (that's the dog's name) will undoubtedly be there, too. 

Portrait by Thomas Boatwright

Portrait by Gabrielle Bell

Portrait by Ed Piskor

I Saw You...Comics Anthology

A long long time ago, I saw that Julia Wertz was looking for comic artists to interpret their favorite "Missed Connections" posting on Craig's List (if you haven't ever browsed them, I HIGHLY recommend it...both heartbreaking and hilarious). It's a great idea, so I immediately drew one up and sent it in.

Originally it was just going to be a xeroxed mini-comic, but it has since been expanded into a book published by Three Rivers Press (a division of Random House!). Tons of great artists signed on to the project, and now I'm sort of embarrassed by my submission. If I'd known what was to become of this, I surely would have spent more time and effort, but oh well.

It just came out, so buy it on Amazon here or at your local comic shop. I think some of us will be signing books at the release party at Desert Island in Brooklyn on Feb. 20th, so c'mon out. You can see a list of the contributors here (Aaron Renier, Adam Kidder, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Laura Park, Julia Wertz, Peter Bagge, Sam Henderson, Tom Hart, etc., etc.!)